A Tutbury schoolboy who helps care for his family has been left devastated after a burglar broke into his dad’s Burton business and stole charity cash for his "trip of a lifetime".
John Taylor pupil Nathan Heath,15, is just one of 12 Scouts from Burton to be invited to the coveted World Scout Jamboree in West Viriginia, North America next year. The youngster, who has been Scouting since the age of six, must collect £3,700 for the dream trip and has been fund-raising at his dad's shop.
However, he was left devastated when a burglar broke into the shop - Mick’s Carpet Warehouse on Curzon Street, Burton, in the early hours of Friday morning, February 9, and stole the £100 raised from a collection point in the store. Also taken in the raid was a laptop.
The teenager acts as a carer for other family members and is looking forward to the trip. He will still go to America, but now has to raise the £100 again.
Nathan's dad Tony, who has owned the store for 28 years, was celebrating his 50 birthday on the same day and was not in work, but colleagues who opened up the shop found it had been broken into. They noticed that the bottom panel of the front door had been kicked in, allowing the thief to sneak in and take a laptop and a charity collection pot containing almost £100 belonging to Nathan.
Nathan's mum Caroline Heath, 43, said: "We were told about the burglary on Saturday and we are all gutted about it. The shop was acting as a collection point for Nathan who has recently been selected to represent Burton with 11 other Scouts at the World Scout Jamboree next year.
"It is a really big deal because only 5,000 Scouts from the UK have been chosen but it is an even bigger deal for Nathan because he is a young carer and has never had the opportunity to go abroad before.
"We have ADHD and autism in the family and it does take its toll, so Nathan was really looking forward to the trip to West Virginia in North America. He started Scouting in Tutbury at the age of six and it is a big part of his life.
"However, he needs to raise £3,700 which will not only pay for his own journey but also for the less fortunate in other countries around the world to enable others to take part in this experience."
Nathan, got off to a promising start with the fund-raising after friends and family gifted him donations and kind-hearted customers at the carpet shop raised almost £100 in two weeks. He also hopes to complete the Three Peaks challenge as well as bag packing events and quizzes to raise money to go. And now he has to start fund-raising from scratch.
The mother-of-three, said: "The collection was going well and Nathan has been working really hard to come up with ways to raise the cash, then someone just came in and helped themselves. I have got to make the first payment on March 1 and don’t know how we are going to do that now.
"We had one break-in before but it was many years ago and we just can’t believe that someone would do this. What would they want from a carpet shop?
"To some extent it is not about the break-in but the pot of money that was taken meant so much to Nathan and he really deserves this trip. It is very sad."
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: "On Friday, February 9, we were called to a report of a burglary at Micks Carpets, on Curzon Street. At approximately 12.30am an unknown offender gained access to the premises by damaging a door panel.
"Anyone with any information is asked to contact us on 101, quoting incident number 184 of February 9."
To find out more or to donate to Nathan’s fund-raising, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/caroline-heath
